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**By APD writer Muhammad Sohail **
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (APD) - Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to mediate between India and Pakistan, two nuclear power neighbors in South Asia.
During a weekly media briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan had recently established high-level contact with Russia.
“Pakistan welcomes Putin's offer to ease tensions between the two countries; India and Pakistan,” said Zakria.
During last couple of years, both India and Pakistan have been on tense relations especially due to skirmishes at the Line of Control between the two parts of Jammu and Kashmir controlled by India and Pakistan separately.
Putin had earlier dismissed Indian fears over growing Russia-Pakistan ties, saying that although Moscow enjoyed “deep cooperation” with India, the same could not preclude ties with other countries. “This is ridiculous,” Putin was reported to have said.
Earlier on June 10, Pakistani government released a statement saying that Pakistan and Russia have agreed to take the bilateral relations to the next level by enhancing cooperation in multiple spheres by transforming their cordial political relations into substantive economic partnership.
Agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The two leaders took a comprehensive review of bilateral relations and noted that there was a healthy growth in the relations between two sides and that the high-level interactions and cordial political relations had set the stage for a substantive economic partnership.
They viewed that current state of relations between Pakistan and Russia was characterized by mutual trust, commonality of interest, better understanding and convergence of views on important issues like regional security, combating terrorism, drug tracking and greater economic cooperation.
Pakistan, who was in American camp during the cold war era, hosted first ever Joint Military Exercise 'Friendship 2016' with Russia, which has been seen as manifestation of growing defense and counter- terrorism cooperation which could contribute towards promoting peace and stability in South and Central Asian regions.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
